Spring holder



Jan- 9 1968 w. FOLBERTH, JR 3,352,577

SPRING HOLDER Filed April 12, 1965 BYM Sg/HS, ma MY United States PatentOffice 3,362,677 Patented dan. 9, 1968 3,362,677 SPRING HLDER William M.Folherth, Er., Lakewood, Ohio, assigner to Progress Wire Products Co.,Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Apr. 12, 1965, Ser. No.447,126 6 Claims. (Cl. 249-202) ABS lf CT OF THE DISCLOSURE A wireproduct device for use in connection with hot top means for ingot moldsand particularly a unitary wire structure adapted to be stressed in usefor securing and holding heat insulating sideboards around the inside ofthe upper end of an ingot mold.

It is common practice in pouring molten metal into ingot molds to takesteps to retard the cooling of the molten metal at the top of the moldwhile cooling and solidiflcaion of the remainder of the ingot takesplace. By doing this, the characteristic shrinkage of the cavity at theopen end of the ingot is reduced and the ingot yield increased. One ywayof providing a hot top means is to line inside surfaces of the upper endof the ingot mold with insulating material or insulating sideboards. Theupper ends of ingot molds are conventionally rectangular in plan andfour separate sideboards are used. Such sideboards help to maintain thetemperature of the molten metal in the top of the mold by impeding thetransfer of heat from the molten metal to the mold.

Certain problems occur in using insulating sideboards, however. Thesideboards are positioned and secured before the ingot mold is filledwith molten metal. They must be fastened securely enough to resist beingfloated away and up from the wall by the rising molten metal as theingot is poured. Any means for securing the sideboards to the innersurface of the mold must not encrouch upon the open upper end of themold nor interfere with pouring molten metal into the mold. It is alsoimportant that the sideboards are able to be so secured easily, quickly,and inexpensively.

Therefore, it is a general object of this invention to provide means forholding insulating sideboards and the like inside the upper ends ofingot molds, which means overcome the problems mentioned above. Aparticular object is to provide such means by an assembly of wirecomponents separately formed and fastened together to provide a unitarydevice able to satisfactorily and simultaneously secure a number ofseparate sideboards on all sides of the inside or inwardly facingsurfaces of the upper end of an ingot mold. Another object of thisinvention is to provide such as holding device that is resilientlyoverstressed to enable it to be conveniently installed within the opentop of an ingot mold with sideboards in position, and which is thenrelieved of some of the overstress to bring it to a condition of lesserresilient stress and into pressing engagement with the sideboards whichin turn are pressed against the inside walls of the mold. Another objectis to provide such a wire holding device that intrudes but slightly intothe opening in the upper end of an ingot mold when installed in place tosecure insulating sideboards. Yet another object is to provide such aunitary wire sideboard holder that is easily and inexpensively installedand which itself is relatively inexpensive to make and use.

. These and other objects and advantages of this invention will becomeapparent from the -disclosures of the accompanying drawings and thefollowing specification and claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIGURE l is a perspective view of a wire sideboard holding deviceembodying the invention and shown in an unstressed condition;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view in enlarged scale of a portion of theholding device shown in FIGURE 1 and showing parts of the holder as theyare held in a stressed condition during installation;

FIGURE 3 is a top plan view of the upper open end of an ingot moldshowing the holding device of FIGURES 1 and 2 positioned in the mouth ofthe mold engaging and securing insulating sideboards to its upper insidewall surfaces; and

FIGURE 4 is a partial side elevation view in enlarged scale and partlyin section taken in the plane of line 4-4 of FIGURE 3.

As shown in FIGURE l, the wire holding device comprises a rectangularframe 10 of heavy wire. Attached to each of the four corners of frame 10is a resilient circular spring 11. Each spring assembly 11 is formed ofa piece of heavy wire bent through about 450. This forms a resilientloop 12 somewhere near the middle of the wire piece from which two arms13 and 14 extend and are resiliently supported in the plane of loop 12.In its unstressed condition, the included angle between arms 13 and 14of each spring 11 is preferably somewhat greater than The free ends ofeach of arms 13 and 14 are each turned back upon themselves and awayfrom the included angle and between them to form small eyes 15 and 16,respectively. Also, one of the arms, such as arm 13 as designated andshown in the drawings, is preferably shorter than the other, or arm 14as shown, the relative proportions of arms 13 and 14 correspondinggenerally to the relative proportions of the width and length ofrectangular framework 1t).

Springs 11 are xedly attached to framework 10 by superimposing a corner17 of framework 10 on a resilient loop 12 of spring 11 and welding thetwo together at their intersections indicated in FIGURE 2, for example,at 18 and 19. When frame 10 and spring assemblies 11 are arranged asdescribed above and the arms 13 and 14 of the springs are freelyextended and otherwise unstressed, the arms reach outwardly and awayfrom frame 10 at an angle somewhat less than 90 thereto and preferablyat only a slight acute angle. The resilient loops 12 permit all of thearms 13 and 14 to be moved toward that part of frame 1t) adjacent theirown point of attachment thereto and thereby to be stressed and develop aforce tending to resist their inward displacement. Arms 13 and 14 andframe 10 all lie in the same general plane close thereto.

FIGURE 3 of the drawings shows the wire holding device described abovein holding position in the upper open rectangular end of an ingot mold Mand securing four sideboards S to the inner wall surfaces W of mold M.Ingot mold M as shown is intended to be representative of ingot molds ingeneral employed in the iron and steel industry, for example. It will beunderstood, of course, that the wire holding device comprehended by thisinvention can be shaped and proportioned for use in connection withingot molds of different shapes and proportions than mold M shown in thedrawings.

As seen in FIGURES 3 and 4, the wire spring holder is positioned in themouth of mold M with arms 13 and 14 of springs 11 all displaced inwardlytoward frame 1t) from their unstressed positions and in resilientlyurged and pressing engagement with the inwardly facing surfaces ofsideboards S. Contact between arms 13 and 14 and sideboards S ispreferably made by eyes 16 and 17 as shown. Each sideboard S is engagedby two eyes 15 or 16 at the ends of an arm from each of two circularspring assemblies 11. In this manner, the wire holding device holds andsecures the four sideboards S along and against the inwardly facing wallsurfaces W of mold M.

It is apparent from the installed View of the holding device in FIGURE 3that the frame 10 must have lesser outside dimensions than the insideclearances between the inwardly facing surfaces of the sideboards S whenin place against the wall of the mold. Further, the relevant frame andspring assembly 11 dimensions must permit all the arms 13 and 14 to bedrawn toward the frame far enough and held in a stressed condition toallow the holding device to be fitted and installed in the mold andwithin the lining of the sideboards. Also, when the arms are releasedfrom the installation position and stressed condition, they must reachand engage the sideboards at a point short of their free and unstressedposition and at a point where they are resiliently stressed and exert aforce against the sideboards able to hold and secure them against themold walls.

In order to install and secure four sideboards in an ingot mold by usingthe holding device described above, the sideboards must rst be supportedin position around the upper inner wall surfaces W of mold M as seen inFIG- URES 3 and 4. This may be accomplished, for example, by hangingsideboards S on wires passing over the side of the mold M. The overalldimensions of the wire spring holding device when in its unstressedcondition as shown in FIGURE l are greater than the inside dimensions ofmold M and, therefore, must be reduced to permit the placement of thespring holding device inside the mouth of mold M and between theinwardly facing surfaces of sideboards S as shown in FIGURES 3 and 4.This can be accomplished by drawing and tying together with cord 4orwire pairs of eyes on the ends of arms 13 and 14 disposed on oppositesides of framework lil. For example, as indicated schematically byphatom lines in FIGURE 1, the two eyes 15 on shorter arms 13 at oppositeends of the frame 1t) and both designated P are drawn toward each otherby a tie E passing between them. Similarly, both eyes 15 designated Qare drawn and tied together, stressing their respective arms 13 bymoving them inward and toward framework 1t). Also, pairs designated Rand T of the four eyes 16 on the end of arms 14 are drawn and tiedtogether. The pattern of tying is shown in FIGURE 1 for convenience andit must be remembered that in FIGURE 1 the arms 13 and 14 are not shownin their drawn together and tied position. FIGURE 2, however, shows inenlarged detail one corner 17 of framework 10 and a circular springassembly 11. Arms 13 and 14 are shown drawn inwardly toward and tied toframe 10 in their installation position. Arms 13 and 14 in FIGURE 2 arein their most stressed condition, with their fully unstressed positionrelative thereto indicated by phantom lines. In FIGURE 3, arms 13 and 14are shown in a stressed position that is between their two positionsshown in FIGURE 2.

When all of the arms 13 and 14 have been drawn toward frame 10 and tiedin the manner described above, the outside dimensions of the assemblyare so reduced that it may be lowered into the mouth of the top of ingotmold M and inside the lining of sideboards S previously positionedtherein. When frame 10 is so placed inside ingot mold M, the ties arecut and all of the arms 13 and 14 spring outwardly and away from frame10 and into resilient engagement with the sideboards S. When the arms 13and 14 have been released so that eyes 15 and 16, respectively and inparticular, engage and come into contact with sideboards S and when aposition of equilibrium of the movable arms 13 and 14 as interconnectedby frame 10 is reached, the arms are in a stressed condition becausethey have not been permitted to return to their original `fully extendedand unstressed positions. The arms in their sideboard supportingposition are in substantially the same or somewhat lesser state ofstress than they were when tied and drawn toward frame 10 as describedabove, but they are substantially stressed compared to their free andfully extended and unstressed condition described above.

With frame 1i! and arms 13 and 14 supported thereon in position andsecuring sideboards S against the inwardly facing surfaces of ingot moldM, all of the sideboards are securely pressed against and secured to thewalls of the mold. Laterally opposite sideboards S positioned within themold are resiliently urged away from each other and against the sides ofopposite inner surfaces of the mold by the resilient stress produced inthe arms in contact with the sideboards. lt will be noted that althoughthe forces holding and securing the sideboards in place act indirections passing through and across the central opening in the mold,the central opening is free and unobstructed by the arrangement andoperation of frame 10, Thus, nothing obstructs or interferes withpouring the molten metal into the mold and the sideboards are securelyheld in place and against any tendency to float up and/ or away from thewalls of the mold in the molten metal.

Spring wire or even heavy-gauge plain wire may be used to fabricate theholding device. I prefer plain wire of a gauge to provide mass enough tohold up under the heat of the molten metal as long as required. Theholding devices are only used once so that I prefer to make them of asinexpensive a material as is commensurate with the effective functioningof the device.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various changes andmodications can be made in the apparatus described herein withoutdeparting from the spirit and sco-pe of the invention.

l claim:

1. A device for holding and securing a plurality of sideboards to theinner surfaces of an ingot mold comprising:

an open, flat, continuous, substantially rigid frame surrounding anddefining an unobstructed central openmg,

a plurality of sideboard-engaging arms,

a plurality of resilient supporting means for resiliently, movablyconnecting and supporting said arms to said frame at spaced apart pointsaround, on and along said frame, said resilient means supporting saidarms unstressed and outwardly extended from and at an angle with respectto said frame, said resilient means so supporting said arms forresiliently resisting stress-producing movement of said arms toward saidframe and away from their unstressed extended position,

whereby said frame-supported arms are resiliently stressed when movedand held inward of their unstressed outward position to develop a forceresisting their inward movement producing the resilient stress in them.

2. The device according to claim 1 in which each of said arms extendsoutwardly and away from said frame at an acute angle thereto and in theplane thereof.

3. The device according to claim 1 in which each of said resilientsupporting means resiliently and movably interconnects and supports apair of said arms.

4. The device according to claim 3 in which said frame is polyangularand supports and interconnects at each angle with one of said resilientsupporting means, with each of said pairs `of arms supported therebyextending outwardly and away from said frame in opposite directions fromsaid angle.

5. The device according to claim 3 in which each of said resilientsupporting means and said pair of arms associated therewith comprises awire bent through at least 360 to form a resilient loop between its twoends which comprise arms extending in angularly related differentdirections from said loop.

6. The device according to claim 5 in which said frame is substantiallyrectangular and has a resilient supporting means and its associated pairof said arms interconnected to said frame at and associated with each ofits corners, said resilient loops and said `arrns lying in approximatelythe same general plane with said pair of arms associated with eachresilient supporting means angularly related by an included angle ofmore than 90 and extending outwardly and away and in opposite directionsfrom the associated corner `of said frame whereby an arm from each oftwo adjacent corners extends resiliently supported and unstressed on apath di'verging generally from and along each side of said frame and theforces resulting from the resilient stresses produced and developed byinward move-ment of an arm on one side of said frame is transmittedthrough said frame to its laterally opposite side and opposes any forceresulting from the resilient stressing of an arm extending out from saidlaterally opposite side.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,084,828 6/1937 Teetor 267-153,092,883 6/1963 Ednell 299-199 3,162,913 12/1964 Witt 249-197 3,261,0587/ 1966 Tisdale 249-202 I. SPENCER OVERHOLSER, Primary Examiner.

R. D. BALDWIN. Assistant Examiner.

